Relationships are one of the most important aspects of an agent’s career – relationships with clients and other agents mean referrals. These are often so important, that some agents will work with the same lender or builder time and time again, bringing them both referrals and increasing success. Here, three pairs of agents and their long-term affiliates tell how they’ve been able to sustain their great relationships for each other and share tips as to how they maintain a strong partnership.
Communication, Social Grace And Team Work
By Megan Oster
When it comes to building and strengthening relationships with your circle of affiliates like lenders and attorneys, being an expert networker pays great dividends.
It is no accident that Tommy Choi, co-founder and managing partner at Weinberg Choi Realty, and PERL Mortgage private mortgage banker Amir Syed, team up on the vast majority of their real estate transactions. The two men have worked hard at developing and maintaining both a business bond and a personal bond since they first met at a Women’s Council of Realtors networking event last year.
“Consistent social, as well as business, interaction laid the foundation for the relationship following that very first event,” Syed says. “We were able to connect on a personal level immediately. But we also took measures, like meeting socially and maintaining open lines of communication, to nurture and develop that initial connection in order to forge a strong bond and sense of trust. That ultimately translated into a longstanding business relationship.”
In a way, casual face-to-face time plays an even more important role than business meetings for keeping relationships with affiliates strong. Syed and Choi make it a priority to get together socially every month, but on the business front, the two men connect to review all existing and impending clients every Monday.
“The trust level must be reinforced and constantly strengthened,” Choi says. “Amir sponsors the YPN events that I host, but we also review all of our existing and future clients weekly. That aspect of communication is important. Constant communication assures me that my affiliates will be reliable during transactions.”
During a real estate transaction, Syed says that no matter what happens during the deal, it is imperative that all involved parties stay calm and work towards a solution. Cultivating a friendship, a high level of respect and chemistry with affiliates will go a long way in achieving this mindset. This is a matter of establishing a level of trust with your affiliates that will inspire faith in your abilities.
“When you share the same mindset for the success of the homebuyer, it makes all the difference in the outcome of the transaction,” Syed says.
In fact, working as a cohesive team was one of the practices both men cited as crucial for successful transactions. Syed is a big advocate of building a powerhouse team in order to best serve the client, explaining that the client will feed off synergy among team members. Most importantly, communication between all parties must remain a focus, and all parties must conduct it with the team’s best interest in mind, because any kind of mistrust will expose itself to the client.
Choi cites two practices as essential for driving effective team work – consistent communication and showing gratitude. In Choi’s experience, the more communication you encourage, the higher the likelihood that your affiliates will come through.
An attitude of gratitude goes a long way, as well. He recommends expressing gratitude whenever a transaction goes well – in his case, without Syed, some of his clients may not have been able to buy without Syed’s finance products knowledge. Acknowledge it whenever your lender affiliates play a role in helping you to achieve your clients’ goals.
Avoiding certain behaviors and tactics can make an equally powerful impact on affiliate relationships.
“Never undermine your business partner to your client,” Syed says. “Never expose problems that may arise to the client prior to having a conversation with an affiliate and figuring out a solution. Never, ever make a comparison or a reference to the ability of another affiliate you may have outside of that specific team involved with that client. Never lose your temper or your cool.”
Along with sidestepping the temptation to partner with an affiliate because of their experience and the promises they make, Choi discourages ruling out the possibility of working with an affiliate just because they are new to the industry, as everyone was new to the industry at one point. This does not necessarily mean they will not provide value to a partnership.
Expanding your affiliate network
When learning about a potential new affiliate, Choi does consider how good they are at what they do – but he also always takes into account whether or not their ethics and morals are in line with his own, as he considers his affiliates an extension of his business. Having a conversation with current or potential affiliates about how a partnership could benefit your clients will help you determine if the match is a good one.
Syed realizes how important this extension is for facilitating successful transactions on behalf of clients. Both an agent and a lender can literally make or break a deal for the other party, as one missing link can weaken the entire foundation of a deal. The way an agent represents Syed and communicates with him is immensely important.
“It is up to the agent to provide me with all of the necessary details so that I can accurately figure out the buyer’s pre-approval,” he says. “If the agent fails to fill me in and my calculations are incorrect, it can significantly impair the transaction. The way my agent represents me really helps me in this process.”
That said, how can an agent “break up” with an affiliate without breeding animosity? These conversations should be conducted with honesty, diplomacy and good timing. Syed advises that the conversation must take place quickly if the partnership is not working, because the focus should always be on the success of the client. If a lack of compatibility is hindering the process, you must discuss the areas you need to change, and if areas do not improve in a timely manner, that may be the time to part ways.
“You must maintain your reputation at all times, as this is very important within the industry, and handling situations in a tactful manner will go a long way towards helping you do so,” Syed says.
Choi varies his approach according to his level of involvement with each affiliate. “In cases where I feel that an affiliate I have worked with on multiple occasions has dropped the ball, I am very straightforward, open and honest with them about why I feel this way,” Choi says. “For example, I will tell them that if we work together again in the future, ‘A’ or ‘B’ is a situation that I do not want to encounter again. If it is an affiliate with whom I have only worked with once, that conversation really is not necessary because we have not developed a relationship. We part ways in a professional manner, and both sides move on.”
Reliable, Strong Relationships
By J. Marshall Pearson
Real estate agents must deal with a multitude of parties when selling a home or property, and any number of things can go awry along the way. Clients, loan officers, underwriters, lawyers and inspectors must all feel comfortable, and all have specific desires and criteria that must be met. In an industry just beginning the long climb out of a hole dug by the recession, professional relationships have been tested, and many agents have struggled. However, Branch Manager of Guaranteed Rate in Northbrook, Pamela Zank, and Leslie Lipowski, an agent with Prudential Rubloff’s Libertyville office, have developed a personal friendship over the years, and have been able to sustain a successful business relationship through the shared values of trust, dependability and honest communication.
Zank, a loan officer with over 20 years of experience, first met Lipowski 10 years ago. After switching to Guaranteed Rate from the Royal Bank of Canada, Zank, her fellow loan officers and processing staff were temporarily housed at the offices of Prudential Rubloff in Highland Park. Lipowski was a Realtor there at the time, and the two hit it off immediately. Both were new to their respective companies, and began seeing each other frequently.
“Most loan officers are ‘type-A’ personalities, so we started building relationships with the Realtors because we were all there every day,” Zank says. “We have personalities that are very similar; we are both gregarious and outgoing.”
Lipowski says that Zank took the time to greet everyone in the office each morning when she arrived, something that the other loan officers didn’t necessarily do. It didn’t take long for a genuine friendship between the colleagues to serve as the bedrock of a longstanding and symbiotic business relationship. One of the key factors, according to both Zank and Lipowski, is honesty, particularly with respect to communication between them and Lipowski’s clients.
Many loan officers, especially those with relatively low experience, Zank says, have a tendency to promise more to their agents and clients than they can reasonably deliver. The pressure is on for loan officers to close, and sometimes a false optimism may dilute an otherwise bleak prognosis. From the beginning, however, this was not the case with Zank and Lipowski.
“People are afraid to deliver bad news. For loan officers, there’s a fear that if you don’t get a deal done, then they aren’t going to give you the next one. I don’t have that problem in my relationship with Lipowski,” Zank says. “I tell her from the very beginning whether or not I can meet her contingency date.”
Lipowski and her clients certainly can appreciate that honesty.
“When customers are taking out a big loan, we can’t sugarcoat it,” Lipowski says. “I often say to my clients, ‘you aren’t buying a winter coat; you’re buying a house.’ It needs to be treated differently.”
In addition, Zank understands the gravity of buying a home from the clients’ perspective. This may upset Lipowski’s customers at first, but her honesty about their ability to afford certain loans ends up saving every party involved both time and money, as well as providing Lipowski with a certain amount of confidence regarding her commission.
“[Agents] are putting their confidence in your hands, and without having our kind of relationship, they don’t know that their deal is going to close,” Zank says. “If anyone puts a loan in my hands, I’m going to tell them the truth from the very beginning.”
Reliability
“I know whenever there is a mortgage issue and I give it to Zank, it gets done. There is no question,” Lipowski says. “She always has her phone on, she’s always reachable and she gets it done. If someone comes to us and wants a house and a loan, we will make it work for them.”
There are situations in which Lipowski’s clients may be distrustful of loan officers, or have a certain person whom they prefer to use. Regardless of who is handling a specific deal, Lipowski always knows she can refer her purchasing clients and, in some cases, clients looking to sell property, to Zank for sound advice regarding their loan or assets. This has paid huge dividends.
“If you’ve got a dependable loan officer that will do anything and everything for you and your clients, you’ve got it. It’s almost a sell,” Lipowski says. “I can’t tell you all the repeat business she gets. When I sell a house, the clients continue to send their friends to Zank because they were so impressed with their own experience.”
“A lot of clients don’t go with the Realtor referral,” adds Zank. “She’ll have the clients call and ask me questions to help them feel more confident in the transaction. Whether I’m involved in the transaction or not, I’ll always help her because she’s my friend. I’ll always do what I can to make her clients feel better.”
Honest communication between the two friends and their clients, as well as dependable financial results, creates a great level of trust. It has sustained the relationship between Lipowski and Zank for the duration of their friendship and business relationship.
“We had some deals where we sweated at the table, but they always work out because we work well together,” Lipowski says. “If it’s a bad [situation], Zank will come up with every solution possible for [clients] to get the loan, and if they can’t afford that house, I’ll take them to another one.”
It is their shared pragmatism, dependability and zeal that continues to impress their clients, and has proven mutually beneficial for their respective businesses. Zank and Lipowski both have friendships with many of their other clients and colleagues. Lipowski runs a dog shelter, and fosters relationships with her colleagues because many of them have adopted pets from her. However, it is clear that they feel the same about each other.
“We’re kindred sisters,” Lipowski says. “We have a lot in common.”
Having a lot in common was just the start for Zank and Lipowski, but their ability to communicate well with each other and their clients, seal the deal regularly and put clients in the homes they love has grown their relationship as professionals and friends.
Working together to best serve clients
By Megan Oster
When developing relationships with affiliates, the basics go a long way in achieving success for clients.
Baird & Warner Broker Rich Brzezinski and King’s Court Builders President Pete Stefani recently celebrated King’s Court’s 1,000th home closing – which is not surprising, given that the two men have worked together on a relatively consistent basis since 1993.
According to Stefani, remaining straightforward and honest with each other has been crucial in maintaining a long-term business relationship. For example, if Brzezinski thinks the floor plan Stefani is working on has flaws, he is frank about it, and Stefani is honest with Brzezinski in return. If one of the two men thinks the other is doing something wrong during a transaction, they take a direct approach, which makes sense, given their long-term relationship – any longstanding relationship must be a win-win for both parties.
“We feel we have helped King’s Court by broadening their opportunities,” Brzezinski says. “In turn, we have been able to introduce our clients to King’s Court. Stefani and his team have always done a great job of building clients’ homes, as well as providing customer service and follow-up. We feel very confident introducing our clients to them.”
Reliability and communication for strong relationships
Brzezinski feels it is important to keep in touch with affiliates, even when you do not have clients for them. He recommends letting them know that their services are still at the forefront of your mind. Being available for affiliates any time necessary goes a long way.
Distinct behaviors and practices to avoid when trying to cultivate relationships with affiliates are obvious, but Stefani says he has experienced it with other agents in the past. Dishonesty is an instant way of damaging the relationship, ultimately severing it; and if there is no follow-up or delayed follow-up on an agent’s part, at some point it is going to turn the affiliate off, as well.
“When you are looking to the agent for a successful transaction with your client, the agent tries to woo me through offers of referrals. I usually shy away from this,” Stefani says. “I simply want him or her to do a good job for my client. All I am looking for from the agent is superb customer service and commitment. I want the relationship to stand on its own merits.”
Brzezinski and Stefani are one example of a duo that has been working together for a long time, but long-term relationships, like any relationship, are at risk if work isn’t put in to maintain them. Brzezinski himself begins the process of figuring out whether or not a relationship is salvageable by making the agent in question aware of his concerns and listening to their perspective, as well. By having an honest conversation with the agent, you can address why you are unhappy and whether or not the relationship is working overall.
“When you have this conversation, some people turn mean and throw in the towel. This is not the right way to handle it, because you never know if this relationship will circle back around,” Stefani says.
In addition, Stefani cautions against ruling out working with someone again in the future, and cites his relationship with Brzezinski as an example. The two men took a break from working together, only to discover that there were opportunities down the future to maximize their combination of knowledge and experience. According to Stefani, this scenario happens more often than agents may think.
“There have been several instances where I stopped using certain people and tried new people, only to realize that the new affiliates were not working out either. I have actually gone back to previous affiliates because the pairing was far better,” he says.
Your network – growth is good
However, it is important to maintain a broad circle of affiliates and always network and work to expand your database; you never know when a change of plan may be necessary, whether in the preparation stages of a transaction or during the process.
For example, Brzezinski recognizes how fortunate the team at Baird & Warner is to have Key Mortgage, the company’s in-house mortgage broker. Not everybody has access to this kind of resource for lending needs; newer agents may have to look to a more seasoned agent for referrals for good, reputable lenders, builders and others, but besides networking events, stopping by offices or open houses and meeting people in person, rather than cold-calling, is a great way to meet a plethora of new affiliates.
Brzezinski subscribes to this theory as well, and in fact, he initially established his relationship with King’s Court by attending the company’s closings. Prior to working more closely with Stefani, he forged a relationship with their attorney.
“I am a big believer in establishing a mentor relationship for our newer agents in the form of a sponsoring broker,” Brzezinski says. “One thing the industry could improve upon is providing mentoring support to newer agents. These relationships could simply be for purposes of information or more, depending on each agent’s individual needs.”
Stefani remembers a closing where the mortgage originator representing the buyer was very pleasant, but when he gave her a referral, nothing with that situation worked out. Even though the first deal went well, the opportunity fell way short of his and Brzezinski’s expectations. This reiterates the importance of maintaining a large database; you never know who will come through and who won’t, especially after a few transactions together.